Shop Notes no more

Jeff Bower

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I saw a couple of threads on other forums this week but didn't think much of it. One of the mods over on SMC, also a member here, Ken Fitzgerald, emailed the publisher to get the story...he got an email back saying the current issue will be the last of Shop Notes and that Woodsmith Mag will get a few more pages bigger early next year. Sad to see Shop Notes go, but have always thought combining the 2 mags would work well. Hopefully not many peeps get pink slips at August Home Publishing.

The thread over at SMC can be seen here >>>CLICK HERE<<<
 
I know a lot of guys liked it but it didn't really appeal to me as a stand alone magazine. I haven't bought any magazine in well over a year.
Woodsmith is one of my favorites though.
 
Though I subscribed on/off over it's tenure, it just wasn't a really interesting magazine to me. I'm guessing there are so many jigs/fixtures that you can design without getting into serious repeating. That said, I do like Woodsmith and will stay with it, unless it goes digital only. I think I picked up elsewhere that the remaining Shop Notes subscription issues will be converted to Woodsmith.
 
Shopnotes was one I subscribed to for a while, really liked it. When time went away, I let it expire. I think I can remember seeing Woodsmith two places as most places didn't carry it. (why I bought Shopnotes) Guess it may be time to look at one of those all issue dvd's for the library. (will see if more places then carry Woodsmith)
 
I wrote to Shop Notes customer service and got this additional confirmation:

"Hi Bill,

Thank you for writing us. Unfortunately, the realities of the slow economy have caught up to us. We have had a proud history of producing ShopNotes for the past 23 years. But now we are forced to close the pages on this great magazine.

However, we are working on plans to keep the great content from ShopNotes going. And I think it will be a good solution all around.

We need a little time to work out all of the many details, but we can let you know in the next few weeks. I thank you for your patience. And look forward to providing this great woodworking information in the future.

Best regards,
Katie"

Over the last couple of years, I've been converting to DVD back issue plus fill-ins on Wood, WoodSmith and Fine Woodworking. I'll drop the magazine subscriptions as they run out.
 
I've done projects from Shop Notes but I've never read Woodsmith. Sorry to hear this. I think overall less folks read cool stuff like this
 
I don't know about shop notes, but I gave up subcribing to any ww magazine some years ago. I was subscribed to Furniture & Cabinet making for a coupleof years and to Woodcarving Magazine as well. Finally I quit as there was more advertisement than anything else in both, and the carving one became of really por quality.
 
That's one of the things I really enjoyed about ShopNotes and Woodsmith - they're about as advertisement free as you'll find in a magazine. I prefer online content now as magazines tend to amass themselves too quickly and occupy space better used for other things.
 
Today, this drove me to see if they were offering a final all issues on DVD. (hey I being bothered for Christmas list and I hate that) I didn't see the DVD but a subscribe yearly thing (expect that will change), but I was shocked to find I could still sign up for a subscription (seems as fraudulent as selling gift certificates to a store that closes tomorrow). Someone should get a clue.
 
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